Peer-to-peer (P2P) content distribution includes transfer of content between peers that is from one user computer to another user computer. P2P networks usually include a server which keeps a list of peers which have content downloaded from a distribution server. When a P2P user requests the content from the distribution server, the server may obtain addresses of peers having the desired content. The server replies with a list of addresses to the requesting peer having the content. The requesting peer can communicate with a peer on the list to download the content.
The list of addresses provided by the server can be based on locality, network measurements and the like, and may be based on the viewpoint of the server. However, that much locality information and other operator specific information is not usually available to a central server. The limited knowledge of the network location of the different peers causes the traffic flow to be non-optimal from a network point of view. This puts an unnecessary load on expensive peering connections between Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This also causes longer download times for the end-users.